Day 16 : Lido Shuffle or should be Shuttle (10/7/09)

After an early start needing the alarm to wake up, we caught the train from Padova to the ever enchanting city of Venice. Gateway to the orient, Venice was something special in Summer. After purchasing a 12 hour pass for the ferry shuttle bus, we jumped on the first ferry to go one stop-was the end of the line, so after the ferry man tellling us "end of line" "end of line" we got off and then back on the same ferry going the right way! The start of the Lido (end of the line stop) shuffle. A trip down the grand canal ensured we got the best sights of the many features of the waterways. Going under the Rialto Bridge, and a reading commentary from "Eyewitness Travel", we disembarked at the Basilica di San Marco and were straight away blown away by the size and stood in awe for quite awhile. Impressed by the 90m high Campanile, we made the decision to go to the top and see Venice from a bird's eye view. The idea of stairs made us all shudder until we realised a trusty lift would take away the burden. Wandering street by street from different piazzas and getting lost at every turn made the day one to remember, but this time every other person was lost too! A longer shuffle to San Giorgio Maggiore ( a smaller island of Venice) and another lift to the top of church tower meant that 3 members of the travelling party were deaf for
half an hour after the bells were rung whilst up there and we staggered when a cruise liner blocked out the view of Venice.Finished of the night with Italian beer, French wine and authentic local pizza and yummy creamy cakes.